Do hens loose feathers on their chest/stomach when going broody?

When a hen goes broody, her hormone balance changes, and one of the signs of this is that the feathers on her breast fall out and this area is called her 'brood patch.' It will feel quite hot to the touch, and its purpose is to keep the eggs, and later the chicks, warm when she is covering them closely with her body. Hormonal changes also affect her behaviour - she will sit and sit on her clutch of eggs and won't want to come off them even to eat and drink very much, until they hatch (21 days if they are fertile, longer than this if she's just gone broody but has no fertile eggs to sit on.) During this time she will resent interference and will peck and growl at anyone who tries to move her off the nest.